I was left confused by the ending. Watching I was like, "did they live thru their mutual gut-shootings to go on to have a blissful family life", or was it, "Poor Beckett & Castle, If only you two could have let go of LokSat, look at the fulfilling family life you both might have shared"?

Now that the show is done, it will be interesting to see where the principal actors careers go. Fillion will not be idle for long but I'm not sure about Katic. I hope that Seamus Deaver and Jon Heurtas land gigs quickly. The boys were part of the backbone of this show. The magnificent Susan Sullivan will probably get guest shots like crazy and, hopefully, Molly Quinn ends up on another show. I also want to see a lot more of Toks Olagundoye who played Hayley. She's a good actress and very easy on the eyes.

The "Seven years later" bit was obviously tacked on... I presume the original ending would have left it so that next year they either both survive miraculously and have to go after that one last guy OR they kill off Beckett and Castle goes it alone to find her killer.

But... as silly as that "7 years later" bit was... I swear... BOTH of those kids shown looked older than 7 years!

Consider... presumably they'd both need to heal a bit, especially Beckett before she could have a kid... so even if they just retired right there on the spot, healed and started with babies... the oldest those two kids should have been "7 years later" is probably 6 and 5... realistically, more like 5 and 4... but both of those kids looked to be older than 7, unless I missed something.

A) Did they survive the shooting & the "seven years later" meant they had a family with kids?

OR

B) Did the "seven years later" with kids scene mean Castle was sort of a regular guy all along with a family? And that Kate was his inspiration to write all stories/episodes about a fictitious rich & famous author (named Castle) and a fictitious detective (Kate).

My wife looked at another forum & most people there went with scenario A. Some went with scenario B. And a few thought the whole series was just a dream somehow from Castle.

I'd like to know what the writers were thinking when they wrote the ending.

A) Did they survive the shooting & the "seven years later" meant they had a family with kids?

OR

B) Did the "seven years later" with kids scene mean Castle was sort of a regular guy all along with a family? And that Kate was his inspiration to write all stories/episodes about a fictitious rich & famous author (named Castle) and a fictitious detective (Kate).

My wife looked at another forum & most people there went with scenario A. Some went with scenario B. And a few thought the whole series was just a dream somehow from Castle.

I'd like to know what the writers were thinking when they wrote the ending.

A) Did they survive the shooting & the "seven years later" meant they had a family with kids?

OR

B) Did the "seven years later" with kids scene mean Castle was sort of a regular guy all along with a family? And that Kate was his inspiration to write all stories/episodes about a fictitious rich & famous author (named Castle) and a fictitious detective (Kate).

My wife looked at another forum & most people there went with scenario A. Some went with scenario B. And a few thought the whole series was just a dream somehow from Castle.

I'd like to know what the writers were thinking when they wrote the ending.

I have no idea how option B is even a consideration. It is clearly A. "Seven years later" specifically implies that these are events that follow the preceding ones. There is absolutely zero evidence that option B is a possibility.

I have no idea how option B is even a consideration. It is clearly A. "Seven years later" specifically implies that these are events that follow the preceding ones. There is absolutely zero evidence that option B is a possibility.

Sevens years later could mean it shows what the family looks like 7 years after Castle finished writing the stories. Also, Kate did have what looked like a gut shot & by most accounts people don't usually survive those. And Castle & Beckett reached for each others hands, not a phone, after they were shot. All their police friends went out to celebrate so I don't think any of them planned on stopping by the Castle residence. It's questionable how they were saved. You could presume they were somehow saved, but other people could presume they were not.

Sevens years later could mean it shows what the family looks like 7 years after Castle finished writing the stories. Also, Kate did have what looked like a gut shot & by most accounts people don't usually survive those. And Castle & Beckett reached for each others hands, not a phone, after they were shot. All their police friends went out to celebrate so I don't think any of them planned on stopping by the Castle residence. It's questionable how they were saved. You could presume they were somehow saved, but other people could presume they were not.

Castle and Beckett are shot and then it says seven years later. It is explicitly telling you that what you are seeing is 7 years after the shooting incident. There is nothing in the show indicating that there was an imaginary wotld that was written. There is only one way to take the ending, and anything else is just making things up. There is zero ambiguity with this ending. They survived, they had kids. Period. It is sloppy, but it is what it is.

Castle and Beckett are shot and then it says seven years later. It is explicitly telling you that what you are seeing is 7 years after the shooting incident. There is nothing in the show indicating that there was an imaginary wotld that was written. There is only one way to take the ending, and anything else is just making things up. There is zero ambiguity with this ending. They survived, they had kids. Period. It is sloppy, but it is what it is.

All I can add is that some people on another forum disagree with you that Castle & Beckett survived.

Jeez-Louise it's a fictional story setting that's been cancelled so what's the point of all the back and forth did they live ? or die ? Who cares

The answer should be obvious.

If you've invested a fair amount of your viewing time to a show, it would be only natural to want to know how it ultimately resolved itself. And if you don't care because it's only "fictional" then why had you even bothered to watch the show at all?